Prior to leaving Washington, D.C., to spend the August recess in their states and districts, members of Congress engaged in a flurry of July activity on issues the Association for Clinical Oncology (ASCO) is tracking closely, including:
Drug Shortages
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair, Cathy McMorris Rodgers (WA-05), released a discussion draft containing various solutions to help mitigate drug shortages. This follows a bicameral request for information (RFI) on drug shortages, to which ASCO responded.
ASCO endorsed two new bills to improve transparency for parts of the pharmaceutical supply chain. The Mapping America’s Pharmaceutical Supply (MAPS) Act (S. 2364) would require the Department of Health and Human Services, in coordination with other relevant federal agencies and in consultation with the private sector, to map the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain. The Rolling Active Pharmaceutical Ingredient and Drug (RAPID) Reserve Act (S. 2510) would establish reserves of both Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs) and finished drug products to be held as vendor-managed inventory and used when needed to prevent supply disruptions.
Additionally, the Senate Appropriations Committee’s Labor, Health and Human Services Subcommittee’s funding bill included report language on pharmaceutical supply chain risks with the aim of reducing medicine supply disruptions and identifying opportunities to support the development of capabilities to produce essential medicines in the U.S. Finally, the Senate-passed National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) included an amendment to authorize the Department of Defense to conduct research on drug shortages. The language was not in the House-passed bill; however, so the House and Senate will need to negotiate on a final bill before the NDAA can be enacted into law.
Use the ACT Network to ask your lawmakers to intervene to secure the pharmaceutical pipeline to mitigate existing drug shortages and protect the U.S. from future shortages.
Prior Authorization Reforms
The House Ways and Means Committee advanced the Health Care Price Transparency Act (H.R. 4822), which included proposals from the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act to reform prior authorization under the Medicare Advantage program, along a party-line vote.
Visit the ACT Network and urge your lawmakers to enact legislation that will streamline prior authorization requirements in Medicare Advantage.
Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs)
On July 26, the Senate Finance Committee advanced framework legislation aimed at ensuring PBM accountability. The committee is expected to continue its work on PBM reform this fall, as well as its efforts on drug pricing reforms, which include addressing issues within the 340B Drug Pricing Program.
Additionally, the House Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions held a hearing on June 21 to discuss health care competition, transparency, and PBMs. Following the hearing, on July 12, the full committee passed several health care transparency bills that would impact PBM practices, among other things.
Medicare Physician Payment Reform
ASCO worked with congressional champions for the physician community to circulate a sign-on letter, urging House leadership to enact reforms to the Medicare physician payment system that would establish a stable payment mechanism, which appropriately reimburses health care providers. More than 100 members of Congress signed the letter.
Visit the ACT Network and ask your lawmakers to provide stability to the Medicare physician reimbursement system.
The Senate returns to Washington on September 5, and the House returns on September 12.
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